


Rearrange the Pieces

by celestialshimmer



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (sort of?), BHWOCweek, Gen, Grief, Immortality, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 05:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3924274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialshimmer/pseuds/celestialshimmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira is expecting to learn more about being a kitsune from her mother. And well, it's not what she expected, but maybe she does learn after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rearrange the Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 1 of the [Beacon Hills Women of Color Week](http://hhawkguy.tumblr.com/post/115770464660/banners-made-by-the-lovely).
> 
> Title taken from Angel Haze's "Black Dahlia".

In anticipation, Kira slowly opened the chest. Rather than a katana or something else she had been sure her mother was keeping secret because of its connection to kitsune, what she found was more like what a normal family might have for keepsakes. Several sheets of paper, bright with paint that looked fresh and as colorful as a rainbow. A carefully folded wedding dress with intricate embroidery and lace. A heavy photo album with an embossed cover and silver gilt on the edge of each page. Kira's breath caught in her throat as she saw the last item: a family tree that was carved into a delicate piece of dark wood and shaped to resemble an actual tree. 

The papers turned out to be collages that, when she was in third grade, Kira had made like everybody else in her art class. Many of them had been lost in the mass of papers that Dad kept from her elementary school homework, which she thought she would never understand why he wanted to do. Others were abandoned in the move from New York to Beacon Hills, but here, as she rustled through the paper that her mom had kept safe in this chest all of these years, she was reminded of these creations that she had nearly forgotten. Kira hadn't ever expected to be so grateful for these. The one with a title written only in gold glitter; "MY PERSONALITY", with pictures of everything from her bicycle to cotton candy to the cutest kitten she had ever seen. The one that was made exclusively of magazine clippings, including the title "What I Want In The Future", which had the unfortunate effect of making it look like a note from a criminal or something, juxtaposing with the sweet pictures she had chosen. The one with no title but had been for an assignment of "Creativity and originality" or something, where all of the pictures on the paper were covered by thumbprints in a kaleidoscope of colors, where Kira had dipped her hands in paint and left a trail of _(shockingly small, could she have really been that tiny when she was that age?)_ signatures all over her artwork.

Now, Kira felt a pang of nostalgia, alongside unexpected gratitude. She could hardly believe that she was that young once, that so much had really changed in her life in the years since then.

"Was this your wedding dress, Mom?" she asked without tearing her attention away from the contents of the chest. 

"And before that, it was your grandmother's," Noshiko replied from behind her. Kira could almost hear the gentle smile in her voice. "She wanted me to wear it, as a gesture of welcoming me into your father's family."

Kira turned to her mother, a small smile playing across her own lips. "Just don't tell me this has become enough of a tradition that I'm supposed to wear it someday if I get married!"

Her mother shook her head, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Not unless you want, of course."

"What about this photo album?" Kira said, turning back to the chest that was so precious to her mother.

"Not just photographs, Kira. I have paintings in here from long before the camera was invented," Noshiko said as she moved forward to lift up the ornate album. "This is something you'll be lucky enough to never have to worry about - whether you'll have any images of your loved ones to remember."

Kira fell silent for several long moments. "Do you really think I should do that? Hold on to all of those memories - no matter how painful? Instead of moving on?" She was surprised to feel tears filling her eyes, and started to blink rapidly.

She allowed her mother to pull her into a warm embrace. "Oh, sweetheart... I don't know. I know what it's like, to have faced those kind of continuous losses. But it's your choice of how to handle your own."

Kira closed her eyes tight, trying to calm down her racing heart. She hadn't expected for this wave of emotion to come over her like this. When she found the words, they came out in barely a whisper. "What if I can't, Mom? What if I can't handle it at all?"

"It's okay," Noshiko said in a voice just as quiet. "No matter what, it's okay. I have faith in you, Kira. I believe in you. But no matter what, I will support you and be here for you. Whether or not you know how to cope with the grief you've faced so far, and will face in the future as well, I'm here. I love you."

Kira drew a shuddering breath and nodded against her mother's shoulder. _I love you_ , _Mom_ , she thought. She couldn't manage to speak again, but as the hug tightened she knew that Noshiko could guess what she was wanting to communicate anyway.

"What about the family tree?" she asked after a while.

"I should show you another time," murmured her mother.

Kira pulled back slightly to look Noshiko in the eye. "Why?"

Noshiko smiled slightly, sadly. "Because we can never change the past, Kira. Our futures are open to our choosing, but our history? Our family's history? The only choice is how to handle it, whether to embrace it or to reject it."

"How to handle it," Kira repeated. "Sounds like all you were saying that we can do with the future either…"

Noshiko shook her head. "Kira, that's not what I was saying. There's always more than that. Handling it may be all we can do with pain and grief… but even for a kitsune, there is more in life than loss." She paused. "No matter how hard that can be to believe at times."

Kira exhaled deeply. She understood that her mother had to be right. Noshiko had centuries of experiences, and she knew what she was saying. She was right it was hard to believe currently, but Kira trusted her. _I have faith in you_ , her mother had said mere minutes before.

_No matter what._


End file.
